Dominique Grubisa? Heard her speak?

Hi guys,

This I my first post on here but thought I’d put my two cents in as well. My wife and I went to DG seminar yesterday as most have mentioned it was very interesting both her system for buying distressed properties and her asset protection model.

I have seen posts from the past two years on here of people asking for others that have who have completed the 3 day course and it seems they are either really busy making lots of money or can’t afford the internet now that they are bankrupt to be able to put up a post. Either way I will be erring on the side of caution and not buying this product at the moment as I have always been told that if it sounds to good to be true then it usually is however in saying that I still found her to be an extremely good speaker and enjoyed listening to what she had to say.

I saw her speak at on the 18th July 2015 (yesterday) and while I am hesitant to believe something that sounds to good to be true she seems to know what she is talking about. She patented the idea in Australia for the Vestey trust and asset protection which like the others said involved putting a caveat on the property title. Apparently you can only have one caveat on the title and so if you essentially caveat yourself this stops anyone else doing it. Obviously your name/trust is still no.1 on the title and then the mortgage number 2 but you essentially take up the third spot. By going to the even I got Stuart Zadels “The new way to make property in money fast” and two of Dominiques books. One on “How to manage your debt” and the other on “How to take control of your divorce”. These resources alone made the conference worth going to and Dominique is a fantastic speaker and very funny. I would recommend going to hear what she has to say and asking her the hard questions. She answered all the questions she was asked at the back of the seminar room with about 20 people crowded around her and didn’t seem too stumped by any of them. Like other have said I kept my wallet closed for the day and am now doing my own research into things but apparently it has been beaten in the court system in Australia. She tells her personal story of how she lost everything with the more conventional ways of protecting assets with trusts etc. I would love to hear from an accountant or lawyer who has gone to her seminar and asked her the questions that may leave loop holes in her idea.

All in all you have nothing to lose by going to a free conference and I found it a good interesting day.

I find it fascinating that so many investors get so indulged with asset protection when the asset they are purchasing is generally bought with either 90-100% financing and owned in essence by the bank! No sense protecting a liability. Buy the property in your personal name first to minimise your personal income tax and then, once the property has grown and equity is present look to protect it in a discretionary trust with corporate trustee and beneficiary structure – but only if you are going to hold it for another cycle. If you decide to sell before putting it into a trust then at least you can secure the personal CGT discount of 50% (on gains made on holdings of more than 12 months). Naturally always best to seek legal advice but discussing asset protection on a fully geared property is a bit like putting the horse before the cart. First things first – create the equity to protect! Companies and trusts can be expensive to run with ASIC solvency and review fees not to mention accounting fees.

Cheers for the quick reply guys. I have enjoyed ready your advice on many of the posts on this forum and find it really helpful. I am definitely caught up in the fear trap of asset protection. I will start work as a doctor next year and realise it is a vulnerable profession so am more conscious of how I protect my assets. Having said that I currently have no assets and am looking to purchase my first property. I thought maybe this caveat system could be a good way to protect myself but am still seeking more external advice on the topic. Your advice is always appreciated.
Cheers

I am just learning about all these things at the moment Jacqui and that is way over my head haha. I know very little about how the trust systems work and what legitimately protects you and what doesn’t but I am avidly reading to try and learn. I definitely want to start up my own self managed super as I realise that is probably the way to go but not sure what the corporate trustee bit involves. Also I thought self managed super was more for your retirement purposes whereas I want to be able to access my investments and reinvest now. Like I said I know very little about it all so more than happy to hear your advice

Hi TM

Nobody on the forum can “advise” you. Only appropriately qualified professionals that you have commissioned for the task with appropriate payment can do so.

A forum is a place to share a series of facts and stories.

I’ll try and really simplify the SMSF trustee thing:

A Corporate Trustee is essentially a PTY LTD that is set up to be trustee of the SMSF. When a SMSF is setup, there are two choices for trustees: personal trustees (at least two “members” personally named as trustee) or corporate trustee (a PTY LTD). If someone wanted to sue the SMSF, then they’d really be suing the corporate trustee. Which is a PTY LTD. Not you. But it would have been you if you chose the personal trustee route. Thus why personal trustee is less popular from an asset protection perspective. You might be the sole member and director of a SMSF, so in a way the corporate trustee (the PTY LTD) is you, but it isn’t you from the eyes of the law in litigation. Hope that makes sense.

Yes superannuation is for retirement. It is possible to access it a bit earlier, though income tax would be payable (which it would be on income outside of super anyway). If there is money in super doing nothing it is a very enticing place to look from an investment perspective.

I’ve done her course and it was GREAT. She has some really good strategies to buy distressed property. I have a couple of friends who are doing really well with her strategies. I try to keep my distressed property page updated and will be adding some deals and renovations soon..

Lloyd,

I agree with your sentiments. I have set up trusts with corporate trustee and a beneficiary structure which includes family, companies.

Also It would be better to not purchase a property that does not have secure cash flow enough to support itself.

As the portfolio grows it important to create buffers that correlate to volatility in valuations and interest rates (sensitivity analysis)

If you are greedy, and are compelled to continue to tighten up you borrowing to the maximum limits to keep buying property. You will have to be prepared to sell when economic shocks hit such as deflation , or increasing interest rates. Often, depending on the shock, it will be your better properties that will sell. Over the course cycle you portfolio will decrease in quality and deflate in value.

I think the Dominique’s are encouraging people to take on more risk than they should. The banks are protected. Just because they will lend doesn’t mean it’s right to take the loan and double down.

Hi Kate and Anna,

Any update? I purchased the course 3 days ago and not sure if I made a good decision. can you please share some experience? thank you.

Hi Akin, and others,
I ended up getting cold feet and pulling out of the process with DG. I couldn’t get my head around the caveats , etc.
I am however recently thinking of looking into her Trust system. Has anyone out there made a Trust using Dominique’s system? If so…how did they go and are they happy with the set up?
Regards,
Anna.